By the Hand of Your Mortal God
by Little Boy of Lothering
Summary: Wow, long title. Based on both the book and the movie, I mixed them together. An OC story. Summary: And so enters the not so welcome travel partner. Multi-chaptered
1. Prologue

I have MIXED TOGETHER THE MOVIE, THE FIRST BOOK, AND AN OC. Yes, so as stated, I've mixed together the book and the movie. On thing I took from the movie was the ages, so for example, Percy's sixteen rather than twelve. Got it? Lightning Thief. I have the ability to make things make sense, I swear. Bare with me.

First part is sort of Zeus' inner monologue, the next few parts are more observations throughout the years. Hope you like the OC. She's a bit of a bitch, just to warn you. NO OC PAIRING!

I don't own.

* * *

Prologue

Sometimes Zeus was tempted to break his own law. Sometimes he truly hated himself for making it in the first place. Even so, he knew it was necessary. He couldn't have his brothers and sisters and daughter, son, nieces, and nephews neglecting their duties. And most of all, he couldn't neglect his own duties. All he could do was sit and watch in his few snatches of spare time.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he'd left the girl with a good mother. Not that Maria had always been a bad woman. At one point she'd been kind, beautiful, and thoughtful. When he'd left, not allowing himself the pleasure of hypocrisy, it had ruined her. Now his daughter was stuck in a life that he'd accidently created for her. If Poseidon or Hades knew, they'd laugh in his face. Two mistakes he'd made. No matter how all-knowing they were, even Gods could keep secrets from other Gods.

Maria had named their daughter Naida Sophronia (she pulled the last name out of a baby name book), an entirely Greek name, and led her to believe her father was a one night stand from met in a bar in Greece. It wasn't too far off the mark. One of the only good things Maria had done for Naida was move to the very tip of Florida, where thunderstorms were an almost daily occurrence. After that, though, she didn't seem to pay her daughter much mind. Zeus, of course, didn't either and sometimes the temptation to break his own law was almost too powerful to ignore. Even so, he'd learn self-restraint over the years, and ignored it.

That didn't mean he didn't watch of course. No, he'd seen his daughter grow up, had given her advice at the darkest of times. Usually she listened (reluctantly) and he was thankful for that small miracle, because by the time she'd reach her teenage years, she'd grown cold, cruel, and condescending, only taking a liking to a few. If the others knew, they'd laugh in his face for letting this happen. Poseidon would say it was his own fault for making the law in the first place. For this, at least, Zeus privately agreed.

Keeping her hidden had been difficult, but he tried hard, making sure not to repeat what happened Thalia. They were barely alike, so it didn't seem entirely possible, but he had to be sure. Whether mortal or not, losing a child still hurt, even a child as cruel as Naida. Maybe if his other daughter was still alive, he wouldn't care as much. He certainly preferred Thalia up until he turned her into a tree. She was more likeable as a person, that much was true. This girl, though, even if she made it to Camp Half-Blood, he would refuse to claim. It made it easier for everyone. She was pretty enough, made they'd think she was daughter of Aphrodite, born of a not-so-good-looking father. Hopefully.

----------------

For the first few years of her life, Zeus, hadn't even known Naida was alive. His first view of her was when she was six, sitting on the roof of her Florida apartment building in the middle of a hurricane. The only reason he noticed in the first place was the blatant display of stupidity. It only took a moment, though, to realize she was his. With a small, happy smile that looked almost awkward on her face, she stared up at the sky. Maria, streaks of grey in the wild red hair both she and her daughter shared, was sticking her head of the hatch that led to roof.

"Naida Thais Sophronia," her mother yelled over the storm, "get in here right now!"

Naida turned her big grey eyes, his eyes, to her. "But I like the rain," she said and there was a small lull of noise for a moment, only short enough for her to squeeze out five words without have to yell.

"_Now_, or no seeing Jack or Chris for a week!"

Nothing more needed to be said for her to listen, scurrying back inside. Apparently whoever Jack and Nick were, they was important enough to pull her out of her area of peace and back into the crowded, controlled chaos of the apartment building below. Seeing he had another daughter left him both intrigued and little sad.

Thalia had died a week before.

---------------

The next time Zeus checked in was a few days later. The hurricane hadn't been severe enough to destroy any houses, but debris was still about the streets. Naida was in the park with two boys around her age. They were using sticks as swords. She and the taller boy were fighting with the smaller one sitting on the side, scowling. His daughter was laughing, the wind playing with her red hair.

"When's it my turn?" said the small boy on the side. "It's been hours."

"It's been ten minutes, stop complaining," said Naida, parrying a blow. He could easily tell she was toying with the mortal boy.

"I never get to go," said the boy.

"It'll be your turn when I finally hit her," said the other boy, making to jab at her. She sidestep, smiling mischievously. When he paused, blinking in surprise, she hit him in the stomach lightly. He cringed, but didn't cry.

"You won't beat me," she said, still smiling. "No one can beat me. Give up." Six and already using a voice of authority. It seemed she'd inherited his arrogance.

"Come on, Jackie, can't I try?"

"Fine, whatever," said Jackie, walking over and passing the makeshift debris sword to the other boy. "But if I can't do it, you can't."

"Bet you I can."

"Can't."

"Can."

"Stop or I'm going home!" said Naida, which got both the boys to shut their mouths. "Chris, c'mon. Sit down, Jack." Both followed orders without question. "On my mark: Read, set, go!"

At that moment Hermes entered Zeus turned his attention away.

---------------

The first time a monster came after her and the first serious fight she got in with her mother happened on the same day. Naida was seven.

"Don't walk around by yourself," her mother said, hands on hips, eyes darting to her cigarettes. Her daughter had just gotten home. Naida was shifting from foot to foot, unable to stand still. "You could've been hurt!"

"I was fine," came the answer and there was so much venom in her voice that even he was a little surprised. The old Maria would have stepped back, shocked, but the new one only glared. "So some stupid snake tried to attack me, big deal." She was more shaken up than she let on.

"It's not like it did anything. I threw glass at it and it died." Her tiny fists balled at her sides. Her shoulders were quivering. It seemed she'd inherited his temper too. "I can take care of myself."

"You're seven, you idiot, in second grade!" Maria leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed her arms. "No you can't, don't kid yourself."

"Fine, next time I'll bring Jack and Chris."

"And what if they're hurt too?"

Naida pulled herself to her full height, which wasn't saying much considering she was small even by seven-year-old human standards. Her grey eyes flashed, almost liked they were reflecting a sudden bolt of lightning.

"You don't care about what happens to me," she said and even when Maria opened her mouth to retort, she didn't paused. She didn't speak like most kids her age. "You've never cared, so why start now? You leave me at Jack's or Chris' and don't pick me up until you get a call and you never try to get me out of trouble at school and if I get a hundred on my math test, you never don't do anything. And you don't do anything to help me if I can't read something. I have to go to Molly for that. You don't care about me, so say you do. Go on, I dare you."

She received shocked silence, but at her age she couldn't perceive that surprise was the reason her mother hadn't answered. The small that hopped onto her face was triumphant and bitter. She was right but she didn't want to be.

"See? You can't say anything. You don't care. Leave me alone. I can walk home alone if I feel like it."

As she walked away, Maria grabbed a cigarette from her pack and picked up a lighter. The old Maria wouldn't smoke. It polluted the air. Zeus looked away.

----------------

After that, their fights went from bad to worse. It was almost painful to watch, as was Naida's decent to childish evil. Though she was never the bully on the playground, she used a sort of…malevolent charisma to control people even at such a young age. She was the complete opposite of her half-sister, the same power but different personality. The only physical aggression she ever displayed were the mock sword fights with Jack and Chris. Since the three of them were so obsessed with the movies _the Lord of the Rings_, those were held quite often. She never lost.

The first time her mother ever hit her was because of those mock sword fights.

"…always coming home with bruises and scrapes," Maria was saying, making some pancakes. It was a weekend, around ten. Naida had been outside for hours with her friends, but her mother had just woken up. "If you don't stop, I'll start getting calls from teachers."

Naida raised an eyebrow, skepticism sketched across her young face. "Oh really?" she said, sitting down in a chair and crossing her legs.

"It's bad enough that you're in fourth grade and still doing it. It's so childish."

"As you so _kindly _remind me," said the nine-year-old, "I'm just a kid. Or have you already forgotten?"

"Don't take that tone with me," Maria snapped. In answer, she received an eye roll. "You might be a kid, but you can at least show at least some maturity."

"It's fun." From her tone, it seemed like she was bored. Her mind, though, was in turmoil as it usually was. "But last I checked, that's not what this conversation was about." She adjusted the baseball cap on her head.

Fuming, her mother snapped back on track. "It doesn't matter whether or not it's fun," she continued, flipping the pancakes, "but you have to stop."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want the school calling asking if I abuse my kid." Naida gave her an acid stare and stood. "Where do you think you're going, young lady? I'm talking to you and breakfast is almost ready."

"Eat it yourself, I'm not going to stop my only form of entertainment for _you_," she said. "If you really want, I'll just stop letting them think they have a chance and won't let them hit me. It'll be less fun, but if it will get you to stop complaining, I suppose I'm willing."

Maria turned around, putting down the spatula, and blocked her daughter's path. "Don't talk back to me," she said. "That attitude of yours is bad enough to deal with. You might be able to take that commanding tone with your friends and maybe even a few teachers, but it will _not _work on me, understood? Now go sit down." She pointed back to the table.

"I'll just tell teachers the truth if they ask," said Naida. "I'll tell them that my friends and I have sword fights and I'll even get Jack and Chris and their parents to back me up. Got it? And I'm not doing it for _you_, I'm going it for me. People think I'm enough of a freak, I don't need the image of the weak abused kid added in."

"I knew I shouldn't have expected you to understand, you can't seem to wrap your mind around anything when it's not storming. Fine, just go on, hurt yourself, see what I care."

Zeus watched as his daughter laughed. Maria stopped and watched too, looking wary. "So you admit what I've been saying all these years? You could at least pretend to be a good mom, you know that? I get enough of this from the kids at school and my teachers who all think I'm so dumb because I can't read and I get bored in every class except for one and I have trouble sitting still and weird stuff happens around me. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, I don't need it from you too—"

When Maria's hand connected with Naida's face, it was almost enough for Zeus to look away, but he stayed. He couldn't skip the bad parts in his daughter's life and it was, in its own way, his fault her life turned out like this in the first place. When they'd first met, Maria had been beautiful beyond compare and more kind than most, a goddess among mortals. He shouldn't have let that get to him and should have walked away instead.

"You…" Naida looked at her mother, but there was no shock on her face. Her body was shaking and if eyes could storm, hers would be an apocalyptic one. Maria stared down at her, brown eyes wide, hands clasped over her mouth.

There was a crackle of electricity from the lamp on the ceiling. Then another. A storm cloud passed over the house. The air in the room changed. He recognized the danger signs.

_Calm down_, he said and knew in her head, she could hear him, _it's better if you mind your temper. Calm down. _

His words worked magic on her. The tension left her shoulders. Her expression went neutral. Instead of anger, she showed indifference.

"I'm going out," she said tonelessly and Maria moved aside as if burned by the lack of emotion in her voice. "I'll come by later. I might stay at Jack's. I'll call your cell to let you know."

"I'm so sorry," said Maria as Naida walked passed. She was completely ignored.

_Whoever you are_, she added mentally as she reached the cloudless outdoors, _stay out of my head. I like my privacy, thank you very much. _

He retreated.

* * *

True to his word, he stayed out of Naida's head. By the time she reached fifth grade, she had realized she could control air, electricity, and lightning, though she was smart enough not to tell anyone. She'd also realized she could send static electricity through a person's body, which she'd used on several occasions. Even so, she'd also declared herself to atheist and that magic wasn't real. She thought of herself as a lucky combination of genetic mutations and heightened senses, like a superhero, though she fancied herself more the villain.

It was the December she was ten-years-old and she was walking home with her two best friends (whom she hadn't mentioned her newly discovered "powers" to) when she killed her first real monster, something bigger than the occasional snake. She had each arm linked around one of theirs. By now, Chris was taller than Jack who was shorter than both he and Naida. As a kid, he'd lorded his height over the other two and now every once in a while they took their revenge for that, calling him shrimp or shortie. Zeus found this very amusing.

"I can't believe Mrs. Lutz made you read an entire paragraph," said Chris, shaking his head. "That wasn't fair."

"_And _she look like enjoyed doing it," said Jack. "Think we can get her fired?"

They were eager on the idea and from the times he'd checked in on Naida on school days, he saw most fifth graders who had her thought that way. And, like most teachers, she seemed to hold a personal hatred for his daughter. It probably didn't help she so innocently humiliated her the third week of school, correcting a Shakespeare reference and asking if she'd ever read _A Midsummer Night's Dream _or if she got the reference off the internet. Then Mrs. Lutz found out about her learning problem and tortured her with it ever since.

"Maybe," said Naida with a shrug. "It's not my fault I'm dyslexic, so there's no need to treat me that way."

"Or that you have ADHD."

"Do you want to start something, shortie?"

"No, Ma'am!" Chris and Naida laughed. A figure slinked up behind them.

As expected, she glanced behind her, sensing it. When she saw it, she yanked both their arms so their heads were next to hers.

"There's someone following us," she said quietly. The two boys exchanged looks.

"Seriously?" said Jack. She nodded.

"Look, let's split up—"

"You're the girl!" said Chris. "He'll come after you first!"

"Oh, I'll be fine," she said impatiently. "Just run in opposite directions, I'll take straight, you take either side."

"But why?"

A wicked smile. "Because it'll be fun." Though Chris and Jack still seemed unsure, that seemed to incentive enough. They nodded. "Okay. On the count of three: one, two…three!"

As instructed they ran. She ran so fast it looked like she was flying. The monster ran after her. When the boys were out of sight she stopped and turned around. She timed it perfectly. It was dark, so the street lights were on. The monster ended up underneath it, still charging. She raised her hand, opened palmed. Though there was no one there, she had a dramatic flair.

_Don't be afraid when it turns to dust_, he told her, _and concentrate all your will on killing it, not just harming._

"And your goddess said, 'Let there be light!'" she yelled, though she knew the words had nothing to do with what would happen. In an instant, artificial lightning formed in the street lamp and broke through the glass, penetrating straight into the monster. It turned to a heap of dust and was blown away by the wind. She smiled. "And then the light destroyed the evil and the goddess felt her heart be warmed, knowing she'd saved the day." Through it all, she was still just a child on the inside.

"I heard you yelling," said Jack, coming up from behind her. He'd used a back alley. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, I heard glass break, what happened?" said Chris, appearing at her other side. She turned to them.

"Nothing," she said, shrugging. "The creep kept coming so I threw a rock at the street light and he ran away."

"Good thinking," said Chris and Jack pulled on their sleeves.

"Let's go home," he said. The other two nodded.

If it weren't for her power, he could have easily believed her to be the daughter of Eris.

_I thought I said get out of head._

Ares entered and he retreated.

* * *

Sixth grade, the grade he'd been the most worried about, passed without much incident. Of course, she'd slain a few more monsters (and still insisted, even mentally, that she was an atheist), but she survived it without being discovered or dying. It was quite the feat. Her dyslexia, ADHD, and cruelty grew worse. Manipulation became her best friend, especially once she realized that, yes, she was pretty and that, yes, she could use it to her advantage. At the time, of course, she didn't realize how easy it would be when she was older. In that aspect, she was lucky to have Maria as a mother. But through all the moments in her sixth grade year, he preferred to remember just one.

It was the fourth of July. As usual, she was with Jack and Chris and for a once a few other kids. He'd kept the sky clear for them because there would be fireworks later.

"It's our last person up to bat," said a boy, someone out of town who was visiting a relative, "and we're putting up a _girl_."

"Yeah, so?" said Chris. Naida tied back her hair.

"But there's no one on the bases, don't you want a homerun?"

Once she was done with her hair, she turned face him. "I'd say do it yourself," she told him and the smile she gave was condescending and cold, "but I want to win this game. Just watch and learn, kid, watch and learn." It didn't matter that the boy was two years older than her.

With that note she walked off towards home plate and got herself into position. The small crowd they'd gathered watched with interest. It was apparent no one expected the girl with the skinny arms and who was wearing short-shorts to actually hit, let alone get a homerun. The out-of-towner scowled.

"What a bitch," he mumbled. Both Jack and Chris glared. Both had grown and they'd learned how to glare from the master, so it was finally intimidating.

"That's our best friend you're talking about," said Chris. "Don't say that again."

"Yeah, let this be your warning."

The pitcher threw the ball and it flew through the air. As her bat connected with the ball, the first firework exploded in the sky. She dropped the bat and ran under the glow of America's pride. The ball went too far for any of the other team members to catch and she was back at home base only seconds after it hit the soft grass. A point was added for their team. They were in the lead. They switched the sides and she took outfield.

"See?" she said as the boy who insulted her passed. "What did you learn?" She look at him expectantly. Her voice dripped with arrogance.

Sheepishly, the boy looked back. All the confidence he had drained away with the threat made by Chris and Jack.

"That girls can hit as well as boys," he mumbled.

"Precisely," she said as she took first base and he moved to take outfield. "Now go on and don't bother insulting me again." He scurried off. More fireworks exploded.

She could have brushed up against him and shocked him and she knew it. But somehow she resisted the urge. At least she had some self restraint, it seemed, even if it wasn't much.

But some was better than none at all.

-----------------

"Do you want a cigarette?" asked a girl who was sitting with a group on the school roof. She held out the pack towards thirteen-year-old Naida. Zeus knew she only came up because she was good with high places and it was overcast that day, so she thought the school roof would be a good place to go and she hadn't expected anyone else to come up with the same idea. "Come on, that's why you came up here, right, to buy one? Twenty-five cents a cancer stick."

Naida looked down at the pack of cigarettes with the same apathetic face she used on teachers who insulted her and she thought as lesser people. He watched, honestly unsure what her reaction would be. For the most part he was very glad he wasn't raising her—she was too unpredictable, even by demigod standards.

"I don't smoke," she said in her best condescending voice. And from all the practice, best became perfect. "Put them away."

"Then why did you come here?" asked a boy in the group. Naida rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you came up here to rat us out."

"Why would I bother with something as boring as that?" she said. "No, I came up here for some air, but now I see I won't be getting any."

"Hey—"

"What the—"

"Did the damn sixth—"

"Seventh grader, actually," she said and though she didn't say it, he knew she was offended. She was small, the way Jack had been, and was sensitive about it. "And these cigarettes"—fast as lightning she pulled the pack from the girl's hand—"are polluting the air. Think about someone other than yourselves everyone once in a while." She threw the pack over the side of the building, where it feel into a bush. Aghast, they stared at her. "I really hate people like you."

As she turned, one of the girls in the group put her hand on her shoulder and hopped away, holding her hand. Zeus knew it must have been tingling from the brief shock of pain.

"What the fuck?" Naida looked at her, face blank, eyes blank.

"Don't touch me," she said and went back downstairs. The stood there for a look time, looking at the stop she'd been before she went out of eyesight.

How long they stood there, Zeus didn't know. He looked away almost immediately afterwards.

-------------------

The night of their eighth grade dance and their last day of school, Naida, Chris, and Jack skipped out. Zeus, who hadn't checked in for a good three weeks, finally found enough time to do so. He found the three friends in the woods, under a palm tree. His daughter was in a white dress, a large yellow ribbon tied around her waist. It almost looked like a strapless tunic. Both boys were in dress pants and button down shirts. They must have told their parents they were going then left at the last minute.

"You're tense," said Jack, "what happened?"

"Fought with my mom before we came," said Naida, throwing small pebbles into a steam. "Figured out we wouldn't actually go, threw a fit. After she realized she couldn't stop me, though, she let me go. Don't worry, she won't call your parents. They don't get along. Same goes for you too, Chris."

Instead of receiving an answer, Chris threw a stick at her. Effortlessly, she caught it, but she blinked down at it in surprise. On closer inspection, Zeus saw it was perfect for a mock sword fight. Naida noticed it too.

"No…"

"Yes," said Chris and he was grinning. "Come on, for old time's sake. Tomorrow we only go in for report cards and then we're high school students. One last time."

For a moment Naida was quiet. Jack stood up and looked for a stick of his own. Finally she stood up as well.

"I'm wearing white," she said and he realized she'd flipped the dress out when she sat down, so it wasn't touching the rock. "You should be happy I'm doing this." On the inside, he knew she was happy too. A bit of happiness in the dreariness of a cloudless night.

"That's why there's dry cleaning," said Jack, who then looked at Chris. "I say two on one, what do you say?"

"Eh, I don't know." Naida was smiling too now and there was no cruel edge to it for once. "We're a lot bigger than her know. We might beat her to a pulp."

"Don't worry," she said, falling into battle stance with ease. "I'll be fine. Two against one and _don't _go easy."

"Whatever you say, Nai."

For the next half hour he watched. There wasn't much talking, but a lot of breathless laughing. The tension in the air her annoyance had created had faded completely. By the end of it, they were dirty and their hair was messy and knotted. Her dress was decorated with splotches of brown. Her red hair, such a mess already, was made into a rat's nest. When it ended, they all laid down, panting, looking up at the stars.

"High schoolers, eh?" she said and coughed once. "I like the sound of that."

"I heard freshman year's a killer," said Jack.

"Who cares? I'm ending up in honors history and that's all that matters. I don't care that everything else is applied and basic skills. We get to learn about the ancient world."

"I'll never understand your obsession with it," said Chris, swatting a bug from his face. "I'm more a math person myself."

"I like gym," said Jack and Naida rolled her eyes.

Zeus retreated as Athena walked in.

* * *

Naida lost her first kiss and her virginity on the same night. It was the roof of Jack's apartment building. He checked in just as her fellow freshman friend pulled off her shirt. The sky was filled with lightning and thunder and rain poured down in sheets, but neither of them seemed to care.

It was her night, so he left.

* * *

A few days later she was sleeping in her English class. The teacher at the chalkboard looked absolutely furious. The five or six other kids, all of which had the distinct air of stupidity or drugged out brain damage, were staring at her, half laughing.

"Miss Sophronia," said the teacher loudly. When his daughter didn't stir (though now she was awake and on her mouth was a small, self-satisfied smile), the teacher marched up and hit her hand on the desk. Naida opened her eyes and lifted her head. "There, I see Sleeping Beauty has decided to grace us with her attention."

"Yes, Mrs. Dowel?" said Naida politely, staring up at the teacher, exhaustion obvious on her face. "Is there something I can do for you?" The class laughed.

"You can start by staying away," snapped the teacher. "And then do the vocabulary on the board, if you can even read it."

That sparked his daughter's temper. The light above made a crackling sound, but no one seemed to notice, passing it off as something else perhaps.

"I'd stay awake," said Naida, crossing her arms, "if you stopped treating me as if I had no brain. It's an insult to my intelligence. Just look at my grades from other classes—I'm doing fine."

"So are you saying I'm a bad teacher?" said Mrs. Dowel, offended. Naida shook her head.

"I'm saying I'm bored. I might have dyslexia, but I'm not the idiot you take me for. Give me a challenge and I'll give you some interest. School is a two way deal, isn't it?"

"Detention, Miss Sophronia," said Mrs. Dowel and the ceiling lights above sparked suddenly before going out. A kid in the class gave a little scream. The school experienced an unexpected power outage.

He didn't know what happened next, though, because his free time ended.

* * *

The satyr entered her school the first day of her sophomore year and for a moment, he panicked. Zeus calmed, though, when he realized the satyr didn't know whether or not a demigod was in the school. Neither the satyr nor Naida paid each other much mind. But as luck would have it, they took the same route on the way home. The night it all went downhill was June eighth.

The skies were clear. His daughter was walking home alone again; Jack was already waiting for her at his house and Chris was out to dinner for his grandma's birthday. Zeus knew Naida had been invited, but had turned it down, planning to hang out with Jack instead. Her flip-flops were noisy against the sidewalk and the wind made a mess of her hair and played with the hem of her skirt. It was the same road she'd electrocuted that monster years ago, and the same road where she'd killed her first one.

Maybe the monsters liked that road, or maybe all three times had been bad coincidences. No matter what the reason, a monster slinked out from a side alley and prepared to stalk its prey. Six streets over, the satyr felt its presence and started to run in its direction. Naida noticed too, but she didn't start trying to get away like most girls would. Instead she stopped and this confused the monster, so it stopped too. His daughter's hand sneaked up to a windowsill next to her and picked open a piece of dusty, jagged glass.

"I see you like following defenseless little girls around," she said and turned, walking slowly towards it. "But I'll have you know…I won't stand by and let myself be hurt. Tell, what is it you want?"

The monster grunted in answer, unable to speak the human tongue. A smile stretched across her face. The satyr, now three streets away, slowed to obey crossing laws. Even in disaster, he had to be cautious of discovery.

"I see," said Naida. The prey stalked the predator. The monster's surprise had rubbed off, leaving it irritated and angry. "So you _do_ want the defenseless little girl." She was afraid, he knew, but she didn't show it. In her hand, she readied the glass. "Come at me then; if you want me so bad, then come and try it. And if you fail—"

Whether provoked by her tone or just because it was its natural instincts, the monster charged. It only had a short distance. Immediately its stomach speared through the glass. The satyr appeared out of the alley the monster came from and his eyes widened at the sight. Naida touched her fingers to the blood seeping from the wound.

"—then let me be your final judgment," she ended in its ear, the faintest of whispers, filled with self-satisfaction, contempt, and cold cruelty. It was the last thing the monster heard before his daughter released a large amount of electricity into its body. It turned to dust.

There was silence was she let her bloodstained hand lower and her eyes met with the satyr's.

"How did I miss you?" said the satyr and he sounded terrified. "How did I miss your scent?"

"My what?" With an air of practice elegance, a single eyebrow rose. "What is this 'scent' of which you speak?"

"The scent of a…of a demigod…" said the satyr weakly. For the first time in years, he saw shock ripple across his daughters face.

He wished he could keep watching, but Poseidon entered. He turned away.

* * *

So what do you think? R&R please.


	2. Chapter One

I forgot exact dialogue from both book and movie, so I abridged it and improvised. This chapter is based more off the movie, though both the Clarisse and Annabeth fights happen, just by two different people. =]

I don't own Percy Jackson.

* * *

1.

Three days. She'd been at Camp Half-Blood for three godforsaken days.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't _actually _a camp, but it unfortunately was. There were way too many people for her taste and the camp director was a jackass. Also, there were people her own age. Naida and fellow students didn't mix. Most didn't have a brain. Camp activities were part of everyday, even if it did involve archery and swordplay and picking strawberries. Planned activities, what a joke. If it weren't so blatantly proven, Naida would believe the entire you're-a-the-kid-of-some-random-Greek-mythological-god was just one large display of make-believe. But no, she sadly had to admit it was true. She the kid of some random Greek god and therefore a half-blood. She felt like someone from _Harry Potter _when she was called that. There only problem was that no one knew who's kid she was.

'Undetermined' she was labeled and thrown into bunk 11 with the Hermes' children and a bunch of other undetermineds. Peace and quiet seemed like a far off dream and she'd only been here since Wednesday. Damn Wednesdays, always the worst day of the week. Naida hated Wednesdays.

But at least she wasn't the center of attention. Two days before her, on Monday, Poseidon's son came to the camp after beating a Minotaur apparently. Now that was a sight she wanted to see. In that aspect she got off lucky because everyone was interested a child of the 'Big Three' than some anti-social undetermined. Thank god—gods, that is.

"Capture the flag?" she said skeptically, pushing her sunglass away from her eyes, using them momentarily as a headband for her messy hair. It really needed a cut, not that she'd be getting that here. "Are we seriously going to play capture the flag?"

"It's fun," said Connor Stoll, a boy in her cabin. He was Hermes' actual kids, not an undetermined like her. "You'll like it, trust me."

"I don't think so," said a girl from Aphrodite's cabin, looking at her nails. "If you haven't noticed, she doesn't look like the roll-in-mud-fight-for-my-life-with-my-sword kind of girl. Sophronia here probably prefers normal things—clothes, make-up, you know, all that."

To this Naida was slightly offended. Sure, she looked the type and she knew it, but that didn't mean she didn't have appreciation for anything other than looks. In reply to both Connor and the Aphrodite girl, she rolled her eyes. It was better not to say anything at all.

"We're the blue team," said Travis, Connor's brother, "so go suit up and meet us back here. We start the game in twenty minutes."

"See you in a bit," she said, flicking the sunglasses back over her grey eyes.

"Good thing we got Poseidon's kid," said a boy to his friend, "or we'd just be adding another dizzy girl to the team."

Dizzy? Well, that wasn't the first time she'd been called that. She'd do something about it later. 'Prove herself' during the game maybe. For now she'd go and change. Of all the damn games, why capture the flag? This camp was so retarded. Not for the first time, she pulled out cell phone (hidden where no one could find it) and tried halfheartedly to turn it on. It hadn't been charged, though, so naturally it didn't work. Even if it had, there wasn't much to hope for. It wasn't like she got service here. Jack and Chris were probably worried sick.

Ending up at Camp Half-Blood was a complete blur to her, the memory made foggy from lack of sleep the past few days. She hadn't even been able to get some shut eye on the plane.

After her fight with whatever that monster had been, Adam, the resident school cripple had found her. Next thing she knew, she was being pulled down the street towards her apartment building, Adam ranting about how stupid he was for not realizing there was a demigod there earlier. She hadn't been able to get answers until she got home where her mom shoved her onto the couch and gave her a shortened version of her _real _conceiving store.

"I met your dad in New York City," she'd said as Naida focused her best death glare at her. At the time, she'd thought maybe her mom thought it would be funny to do this to her as some strange prank. "I bumped into him while in the Empire State Building. No, I don't remember why I was there. It was probably for business. We decided to go out for coffee. After that we went for a walk around Central Park. Then we met up a week from then. It was only for about a month. Yes, he told he was a Greek god and yeah, I know which one. He made me promise never to tell anyone so don't expect to get an answer out of me. I guess we better get you out of here if monsters are attacking you. Satyr, where would she go? That camp place?"

Adam fidgeted nervously. Naida had just stared at her mother in disbelief.

"Wait, so I'm the kid of some mythological Olympian god?" she'd said and her mom nodded. She leaned back against the couch and crossed her arms. "You've _got _to be kidding me. I'm not buying it. What's _really _going on?"

"She just told you," said Adam, but he looked like he expected it. "I mean, you fought a monster before. Why can't you believe it? If you don't believe me, do you want me to prove to you that I'm a satyr? All I have to do is take off my pants—"

"Sorry, but I already have a boyfriend and I'm pretty sure he'd consider that cheating," she said and when she gave her little half smile, her mom hit her on the back of her head. Though she would never say it, those hits hurt. "Jeez, you act like I'm being irrational."

"You have _blood _on your hand, Naida," said her mom, grabbing said hand. The blood was drying. "For once in your life, listen to me. We have to get you out of here."

"This is an excuse to get me to go away, isn't it?" Adam leaned down to start untying his Converse. "I've been fighting these things for years, it's not like they're particularly dangerous. I'm fine. I've told you before; I can take care of myself."

Another hit to the back of the head. At this point she knew that yeah, she was denying the obvious. No matter how much she tried to argue against it, she'd known for years that this wasn't normal, but she wanted to _be _normal, not some demigod. Of course, now that she was Camp Half-Blood, she had to admit it: there was no perfect dad who had a chance to come back into her life and save her. No, not happening.

"You should have told me it's been going on for years," said her mom, "because you're not in the best of situations right now. Listen to me: You need to get out of here." She put emphasis on every word.

"Why?" she'd asked, standing up. "Why? I have a _life _here, Mom. I have Jack and Chris and I have their families. I have straight Cs and an A-, good enough grades to get into at least an okay state college. I want a _normal _life. The reason I never told you is because you've been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of me and telling you that monster are attacking me is a perfect excuse to write me off as insane and send me off to an asylum."

"Think about someone other than yourself, Naida." Her mother glared at her. Naida had been very happy to see that hers couldn't even compare to her own. "I had a full career going and I moved here, for you."

Naida had honestly been a little surprised, but as usual, hadn't let it get to her. "And what could possibly want to make you do that? We grew up making each other's lives miserable. And what could the tip of Florida have for me that New Jersey didn't, hm?"

"I can't tell you that." If she'd been younger (much younger, that is), she probably would have stomped her foot against the floor in aggravation. "But you need get the idea through that inflated head of yours: we have to get you out of here. These…monsters, they've only become more frequent over the years and more, well, _powerful_, right?" Reluctantly, Naida nodded. "Yeah, well that's only going to get worse. Right, Adam? Now should we catch a plane to get there or drive there?"

"How much do you know about Greek mythology, Ms. Sophronia?" he asked and when Naida looked down, she saw that his feet were actually hooves.

"Whoa!"

"Oh, and yeah, here's my proof…" When it was staring her in the face, she couldn't deny it anymore.

"My last name's Rachel. I'm Maria Rachel. Sophronia is made up."

"Made up?"

"Well, I didn't want to give you my last name and I made your first name Greek. Thought I should go all the way."

"So I've been lied this entire time?"

"I've been telling you that for the past half hour. But I suggest you keep it; Naida Thais Rachel doesn't sound good. And Adam, I know a lot about Greek mythology, considering I had a kid with a god. You'd think she'd be better behaved because of that, but no, she'd still an idiot with a bad attitude."

Adam the satyr looked back and forth between the two of them. "Well, since you can't tell us who the father is because of a promise—and it's a really bad idea to break a promise with a god—do you know if he has any, um, disagreements with Lord Zeus?"

Her mom openly laughed here, but it the bitter laugh Naida was used it. She couldn't even remember what her real laugh sounded like. "No, this idiot's father had no problem with him."

"I'm not an idiot—!"

"Then I guess we can go by plane."

After that they drove to the airport where her mom bought a plane ticket for her, claiming it be a 'family emergency' to get the quickest flight there. At the time Naida had been so annoyed, pissed off, and confused that she'd completely forgotten to call Jack and Chris. Now she cursed herself for it. Adam bought his own ticket. Somehow they managed it so they sat next to each other. She was given an unwelcome briefing on camp life and what it was like to be a demigod.

And, of course, she was asked who she thought her father was. She lied and said she didn't care, so she hadn't thought about it. In truth, she was still telling herself that same lie because she didn't want her sinking suspension to be true.

When she arrived at Camp Half-Blood, she met with Mr. D and Chiron and was assigned her bunk. Then she went to a campfire. To say the least, she hated every minute of it. And now she was meeting up with her teammates to play capture the flag, dressed in leather armor. Could life get any worse?

"There she is!" said Luke, the head of her cabin, waving her over. "Okay, we have two minutes. Our strategy is to rush forward; we're keeping it simple since Athena's cabin is on our other side. I know where the flag is, so everyone follow me, you got it?" A group nod. Naida raked her fingers through her hair. They got themselves into position.

"You're new, too, right?" said a voice next to her. She looked and saw Poseidon's son who she knew, but hadn't talked to yet. She nodded. "Do have any idea what's going on?"

"No a clue," she answered, reading her blade. Swordplay, at least, she was used to. Even if it had just been with her friends, she knew how to use her hands and feet well enough. "And I'm taking it you don't either."

The son of Poseidon shook his head. "I'm Percy by the way, Percy Jackson."

"Naida Sophronia." The signal came. They rushed, as instructed and were almost immediately met with the red team.

When she felt the first sword hit against hers, she felt the first trickle of happiness. It was the first time in days. The person wasn't very good, probably from a god who wasn't the best with battle. Overpowering her was easy and in a moment, Naida was past her, weaving in between people, using her smallness to her advantage.

"So, do you like it?" called Connor as he came up next to her, blocking a boy's sword with his own. She disarmed her opponent. He whistled. "You aren't so bad after all. Mind doing border patrol with me? Guard the flag?"

She shrugged. "Whatever, why not?"

They doubled back as the rest of their team surged ahead. From the looks of it, they were winning. She really wanted a glass of water. Though she was used to physical excretion, that didn't mean her body didn't scream in protest when running around all day left her thirsty. By the time they reached their flag to guard it, the place was empty.

"Why did you ask me to border patrol?" she asked, standing a little a-ways from their flag.

When she received no answer, she looked behind her to see empty air. A chill went up her spine. Someone from the other team got him while she hadn't been looked. Of course, that made sense. She was a lot faster than Connor and had probably moved ahead of him some time ago. He was probably somewhere up in the forest. She took a step to go back and look for him, but stopped. It was a stupid idea, she could do it herself. Besides, the person was already here. Naida game her trademark smile.

"So when did you incapacitate Stoll?" she said, turning around and raising her practice sword in time to block a…spear? The girl cursed. It was Clarisse, of the red team, daughter of Ares. "I see you weren't expecting me to have noticed." She moved her blade and went to strike, but had it parried. Clarisse was good, as expected. "But I seemed to have a heightened awareness of my surroundings. So when did you incapacitate him? Really, I'm quite curious."

"My brothers did it a while back," said the other girl and as her spear was blocked again, her face contorted with aggravation. When their weapons connected a second time, though, Naida noticed a small sound, a short hum, and her face almost split into a very large smile.

Clarisse's spear had an electric shock.

"How very interesting," she said mildly and instead of blocking, dodged and struck for Clarisse's stomach. Behind her came the sound of voices and fighting and they were coming nearer. Her first victory would have a witness. Clarisse once again parried her blade. This didn't matter, though, Naida close enough.

As a test, she grabbed the spear, bracing herself for the electric shock. She was so surprised when nothing came but a pleasant tingling feeling that Clarisse had time to bash her aside.

"Hey, look!" said someone from atop the small hill Naida had to come down to reach here. "The new kid's getting her ass kicked by Ares' daughter!" There were a few spouts of laughter. Naida stood up, now thoroughly annoyed. Clarisse was smirking.

"Give up and let me take the flag," she said, all swagger and arrogance.

"No," answered Naida simply, holding her blade out in front of her. "If you really think I'll back down, then I've overestimated your intelligence. Now be a good girl and either give up yourself or attack. You won't win."

"Should you really be saying that to the girl who knocked you to the ground?" said Clarisse. They'd gathered a little band of onlookers. Naida stood there, waiting for an opportunity, silent. When her opponent went to strike her a moment later, she found the opening.

Dodging blows was always something that came natural to her. So was attacking and playing dirty. She didn't bother with honor—the ends justify the means, right? She went for the stomach, where her attack connected perfectly because of the blind spot Clarisse had given herself. All she had to do was left her shoulder get cut. In the same movement, she grabbed the spear right above the other girl's hands and wrapped her foot around her ankle. Before her opponent had time to react, she pulled on the spear and moved her foot, tripping her. A shock of the electricity from her own spear should have rocketed through her. The momentum and the fall and the tightness of the grip combined with the sudden burst of electric release allowed Naida to easily pull it away. Clarisse screamed when she hit the ground. Her hair was frizzed from the electric shock.

The forest fell silent. None of the onlookers said a thing. Then there was a yell. Her team cheered and ran at her. A moment later the cheers grew even louder and from over the hill ran the rest of their team, Percy Jackson leading it, flag in hand. They won. For the first time since she arrive at Camp Half-Blood, she let out an actual smile.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

.

"What do you think _you_'_re _doing?" said a voice behind her. Naida froze. Damn, caught. With an exasperated sigh, she pushed her pack higher up on her shoulder and turned around.

"Waiting," she answered simply, leaning against the wall of the Athena cabin. It was Chase, the girl Jackson beat. She looked a lot more put together since the campfire where they'd officially met. Then again, it also looked like she'd showered. "How about you, Chase? Playing guard dog?"

The other girl's face pinched in annoyance. Yes, Naida was certainly aware that she could be completely insufferable. "No, I'm also waiting actually." She eyed the backpack. A similar one hung over her shoulder. "So we're waiting for the same person?"

"Suppose so." Great. As if one person wasn't bad enough. "If the kid's going to go charging out on his own, I'm taking to opportunity to get out of here to."

"And go _where_?" Chase looked at her incredulously. "Sure, you might have gotten Clarisse down, but that was probably with intelligence. You've been here three days, fought one fight—basically, there's no way you can do anything useful if you come along."

"And Jackson's any different?" She raised one eyebrow. "He's been here five days and he's only fought one battle. Actually, he beat you last I checked."

For her ever-so-casual statement, she received a withering glare. An innocent smile was she gave in return.

"Yeah, well, that's why I'm going to help," said the blonde. "He's going to _need _it, whether he likes it or not. And even so…he's the child of Poseidon; he has certain abilities that the rest of us don't have."

"Because he's the kid of one of the Big Three? Who's to say I'm not one either?"

For a moment all the other girl did was stare. Naida went go say, _just kidding_, but just then voices drifted over towards them.

"…your protector, I have to come with you," said a voice.

"No, Grover," said Percy Jackson as they came into view, "it's too dangerous."

"Hey," she said, stepping suddenly out from the shadows. Both boys jumped. "Nice night for a stroll, isn't it? Off to get your mom, Jackson? Two's a pretty small number for a rescue party."

"Look, I'm going whether you like it or not," he said, "so don't try to stop me."

"Who said anything about stopping you?" she said. "I want to come _with _you."

For a moment Jackson just stared at her incredulously. Then he said: "No, it's too—"

"Dangerous, yeah, we get it."

"We?"

"I'm coming too," said Chase, stepping up next to Naida. "You say it's dangerous, but you've won one fight—"

"Against you," said Naida under her breath, earning a glare.

"—but I've one more than I can count. You _need _me. Besides, you need someone to strategize. You have no idea where you're going."

"You're bringing me with you." She took another step forward and looked up at him, squaring her shoulders. "Whether you like it or not."

A reason wasn't necessary. Jackson was already bending. She repressed a smile. People were so easy to manipulate. Hopelessly, he looked around at all of them.

"Are you sure you want to come?" he said. Quickly, they all nodded. "Okay, fine…does anyone know how to get to the Underworld?"

There was a moment of complete silence in the group, the only sound the crickets chirping in the brush. Finally, Chase spoke up.

"I only have a vague idea—I mean, it's in California…but I know someone who might know its exact location."

"Who?" Jackson asked.

"Luke, son of Hermes. You should both know him."

"But he's in his cabin right now," said Grover. "How do get to him without making it obvious?"

"Um, hello, there's an undetermined here," said Naida, waving her hand a little. "I'm already in there. I'll just go in and talk to him. It'll all look natural, trust me."

The other three eyed her wearily. "I could also do it…" said Chase. The redhead rolled her eyes—great, they didn't think she could.

"Give me five to ten minutes," she said, "and I'll come back here, maybe with him, maybe not. But I'll definitely come back with written directions. It'll look the best if I go in."

"If you say so," said Jackson, but she barely paid attention, dropping her pack in front of him and turning around.

"Max of ten minutes," she said one last time as she walked away, "I promise."

Most of the cabin was still awake when she got back. Everyone turned to her when she entered.

"Where have you been?" said Travis. "You missed our epic pillage of the toiletry closet. Ares' cabin won't know what hit them in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah, have fun with that," she said, glancing around for Castellan. She spotted him talking to one of the younger kids, an undetermined. Quickly she made her way over.

"She completely ignored my question," said Travis.

"Maybe she's already got a boyfriend," said Connor. Fail. Just such…fail, as Jack would say.

"Hey, Castellan," she said, tapping him on the shoulder. He told the kid to hold on and turned her. "I need to talk to you. Now. It's urgent." She put on her best serious face because it was the only way to get it to work.

"Is everything okay?"

"I'll explain everything in private. Follow me out back."

Motioning once with her hand, she walked towards the front door. As she told him to, he followed her until they reached behind the cabin, away from prying ears. After walking a little bit, she stopped.

"What's wrong, Sophronia?" he asked as she turned around.

"Naida," she said because now that she knew that it was fake, she couldn't stand being called it. Being reminded of the lie she'd been told her entire life made her skin crawl. "Call me Naida."

"Okay," he said awkwardly as she turned around. As usual, she needed to look up. Damn genetics! It horrible, absolutely horrible to be only five feet tall. "But anyway, Naida, what's wrong?"

"Jackson is going to the Underworld to save Jackson's mom," she said bluntly. After all, she'd said five to ten minutes. "His friends are going with him. So am I. And we need directions. Apparently you can get us those."

Castellan shook his head. For a moment, she stopped breathing. "Okay, this was the last thing I expected you to ask. I was half expecting you to tell me you figured out which god your parent is or something."

"And that would be a bad thing?"

The look on his face darkened. "Sometimes. I can get you in, though."

She smiled, giddy suddenly when she realized that, hell, she was getting out this summer camp. Slightly amusing, really, that she would rather be down in the Underworld than up here.

"Can you really?" He nodded. "Okay, so how?"

"I'll have to get them from the cabin, but I have Converse with wings." Luke grinned. "Yeah, I know. Winged shoes. A present from my dad. Guy's a total jackass, but he gives good stuff."

"Wish my dad would do the same thing for me," she said, blowing some hair from her face. Under her breath, she added, "Or my mom."

"So your parent's a god, not a goddess?" he asked as they headed back. "And here, I'll explain the rest of the directions in a moment. I need the box first."

"Okay. And yeah, a god. No idea who he is, though. Doesn't seem to want to—how do you guys put it?—claim me or whatever. I sound like I'm a puppy for something. Not that a really care."

_Though it would be nice_, whispered a voice in the back of her mind, _if he would be considerate enough to do it. _She told the voice to shut up, but immediately another one popped into her head, the one of her "regretful friend", as she'd grown to call to it. Castellan disappeared inside.

_It's for your own good, kid_, it said, causing her to pause for a moment, color draining from her face. _You'll possibly understand one day. _

_You're my dad_?

She received no answer. Instead Castellan emerged carrying the shoe box and a notepad and pen.

"Are you going to explain it just to me or come over to everyone else too?"

"Depends, do you ask a lot of questions?"

"No."

"Okay. Then I'll explain. Write down what I say. You should be able to write in Ancient Greek, even if I'm speaking to you in English. It'll be easier that way."

"Whatever you say, Castellan."

Though she felt like a secretary, she put the pen to the paper and scribbled down words as he spoke. Surprisingly enough, it came out in Ancient Greek as if she'd known the language all her life. Then again, her brain was supposedly "high-wired" to know it.

"Okay, so these shoes are your ticket to the Underworld, as well as a map under them. Basically, Persephone has hidden pearls all over America so that the men that come down there have a way out. Makes sense, right? Hades keeps her prisoner and, well, I'd personally invite some company down there too.

"Anyway, so the entrance is in Hollywood. The map will show the pearls, so it'll guide you in the route you need to go. But be careful because he'll send all kinds of monsters after you. Think you're up to the job? You've only been here three days."

"I think I'll be fine," she said. "But I have to go before I get yelled at. See you some other time, Castellan." She turned and ran away.

"Wait!" She paused and looked back.

"Yeah?"

"You said to call you Naida, right?" he said and she nodded. "Then call me Luke, okay? And come back in one piece!"

"I will, swear to whoever-my-dad-is!" With another smile, she waved, turned around, and left.

"What took you so long?" said Chase the moment she appeared. "It's a bad idea to stay here for so long. And where is he?"

Naida rolled her eyes. "It took a little while explaining, that's all," she lied, leaving out the larger part of the conversation. "And he said it would be easier to explain it just to me. Here, I wrote down the directions."

She threw the paper to the other girl, who caught it. "You wrote it in Ancient Greek?" she said.

"He told me to."

"Okay, look, can we leave?" said Jackson. Naida shrugged and the other two people nodded. She picked up her pack again. They headed off. When they exited, it was like a breath of fresh air, even if it was considerably more polluted.

Back to the real world now.

* * *

My computer is retarted, so sorry if somewhere along the lines it got messed up. Also, should I make this a LukexOC? I mean, she anti-sue-ish enough that she could be put in a pairing I think


	3. Chapter Two

And here is the second chapter of the story, which I'm most likely going to change the title of. Any suggestions? Also, I went back and changed the ending of the first chapter, so to those who have already read the first and prologue, please go back and reread it. After reading it, please answer: Should I make this a LukexOC? She got a negative seventeen on a mary-sue test, so I think she's okay for a pairing.

On another note, I accidently went with canon and said three pearls, but to make life easy, I originally meant to put four. JUST PRETEND THERE ARE FOUR PEARLS. Sorry, caps were necessary for those who do not read author's notes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, only Naida.

* * *

2.

"Going on foot to California will take too long," said Chase later that night after a few hours of walking. "We need a car. I can drive. Can anyone else?"

"I can," said Grover as Jackson and Naida raised their hands. Though she didn't have an official license and only her permit, Jack had taught her earlier that year on the back roads of the town.

"Anything but the highway when it's really busy," she said.

"Okay, good, we can all drive," said Jackson, "but how do we get the car?"

"How about we take a bus tonight and then high-jack one in the morning?" said Naida, but all she received were incredulous looks. "Okay, maybe not."

"Let's just stick with buses for now," said Chase. They were nearing a station anyway. "I can pay, I have money. Do any of you, though?"

"I have a twenty," said Naida, thinking, _and she called me useless_, "and I know my mom's pin number, so I can get stuff out of her account."

"Will she care?" asked Grover.

"No." The wonders of being able to lie with a straight face. They reached the bus station. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something she'd been hoping to see. "Hey, I'll be right back. We're heading to Jersey, check bus schedules. From the map it looked like…Well, look for a place that goes down route 17. It'll say."

"Where are you going?" said Jackson.

"Bathroom," she answered, lying again. For some reason, she didn't want to tell them she was making a call.

Fishing around in her jean pockets, she managed to find seventy-five cents. Enough for one fifteen-minute phone conversation. Jack. She'd phone Jack. It was late, and she'd probably wake up Molly, but it was worth a try. Hopefully Chris was with him.

Quickly, she slid in the three quarters and dialed. Then it started to ring. Each new sound was agonizing. Three days, just three days, but it felt like longer. She'd never been away from her friends for more than a day and half before, since even one of them went on vacation, the other two were always invited. Like, they always came when she and her mom came up here. It was the one thing she ever (mentally) thanked her mom for doing.

"Hello?" said a very tired voice with a yawn, right before it would've hit answering machine. Her heart stuck in her throat—Molly. For a moment, she couldn't talk. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Mol," she answered, raking her fingers through her hair. The cool night air whipped around her suddenly and she pulled her button down closer around her. "It's me. It's Nai. Can you put Jack on the phone, please?"

"Is everything okay, sweetie?" the other woman asked, sounding like more of a mother than her own mother ever had been. "JACKIE, CHRIS, IT'S NAIDA!" There was the scurrying of footsteps.

"I'm fine Molly—"

"Naida, where the fuck are you?" said her boyfriend. In the background, his mom told him to watch his mouth.

"I'm, uh, in New York," she answered. "It's a long story, and I only have about ten minutes to talk, so I'd rather not get into it."

"So basically we should save the story for next call?" said Chris, yawning. She's woken them up. He must have been staying over. "We were so worried you were kidnapped by some serial killer or something. Maria said you weren't, but, well…"

"You can never tell with her. I get it. It's pretty weird anyway. I was just calling to say I was fine. And so that you have some reason, at least, well, it has to do with my dad."

"Wasn't he a one-night stand in Greece?" said Chris.

"Wow, way to sound like a dick," said Jack.

"Dicks can't talk."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Watch your language, both you," said Molly, her voice distant.

"Long story," said Naida, speaking quickly. "But this involves him. I haven't actually met him, though. I'll explain it all some other time. I love you, Jack. I love you so much. And you too, Chris."

"Whoa, where did our Naida go?" said Chris. "Has your road trip trained you to profess your love now?"

"Shut up, I only have a minute le—" There was a click and her time was up.

For a moment she stood there, phone pressed to her ear, listening to nothing, staring straight ahead at nothing. She had no more loose change. Three quarters. That had been it. And now they were all gone.

"I thought you said you were going to the bathroom," said a voice behind her as she hung up. She jump and turned around. Standing there was Grover in his jeans, crutches, and fake feet. She'd been so preoccupied she hadn't even noticed him.

"I'm about to," she answered, crossing her arms across her chest. "I just noticed the payphone and decided to call back home."

"Okay," he said uncomfortably. It looked as if he was trying to cover it up. He wasn't a very good actor. "Well, hurry up, because the bus to the map's first location is coming soon."

"Whatever, be there in moment." Before he could say anything else and delay her, she slipped away and into the woman's bathroom.

As expected, it was filthy and empty. Dirt coated the tiled floor, so stuck to it that it would probably never come off. Most of the stall doors were bent. The only one, she discovered, the properly closed was the handicapped door. Inside was just as disgusting, so much so that it made her cringe. Really, it was quite terrible. At least the toilet seat didn't look as if someone regurgitated on it and paper was luckily in the dispenser.

The sinks she discovered, weren't much better. She almost gagged at the sight of the first one, which had a silverfish in it. And then the second on didn't turn on. The third one did, but she used a piece of paper-towel touch the knob. Leaving the bathroom was like a dream come true. God, not even the local pool bathroom down in Florida was that bad. Though she was rarely in there—her mom was afraid of water, so she didn't know how to swim. Despite the warm air, she shivered. Oh, how she hated disgusted places.

The bus was turning the corner as she came back to the group of three. They were all waiting expectantly, like a picture, and talking. All she wanted to do was sleep. Chase rolled up the map and put it away.

"What took you so long?" she asked the moment Naida came into view.

"I was trying to navigate around abyss of disgusting that was the bathroom," she answered. The bus came to a stop. "You said you were paying, right?"

"Yeah." The doors opened. They filed on, Chase going first so she could pay for the four of them. Naida entered last, ignoring the creepy old man behind her. Old people scared her.

On the bus they settled into their seats, Grover next to her and Chase and Jackson next to each other across the aisle. Somehow she'd managed to snag window. Though a bus was far from comfortable, she curled up in the seat, leaning her head against the window, letting herself fall asleep.

Outside, it started to rain.

.

They took a stop the next morning to brush their teeth, wash their faces, and wet their hair in the bathrooms by a different bus station. They had one more bus they needed to take. Personally, Naida would have preferred hitch-hiking, but she had a feeling that idea would be shot down immediately. Just like she would have preferred to take a shower, but that didn't look like it would happening. Instead she had to be content with changing in a bathroom stall after a night of sleeping on a bus rather than right outside a bathtub after taking a nice shower. Oh well, she couldn't have everything.

"You're scrubbing your face a little hard," said Chase, looking at her quizzically. Naida immediately stopped.

"Um," was the most intelligent answer she could think of as she looked in the mirror. Her cheeks were bright red, like she was on a movie set and wearing too much blush. "Yeah, whatever, come on." She left before the other girl could say anything.

"What happened to your face?" asked Grover the moment she came in view.

"She got a little enthusiastic when it came to washing up," said Chase from behind her.

"I don't like feeling dirty." Maybe it was because she was so tired, but she was feeling even more irritable than usual. "And the lack of a morning shower made me feel that way. So yeah, I scrubbed kinda hard and made my cheeks red. No need to look like you're about to laugh."

"Oh, crap, the bus is about to leave again!" said Jackson, hurrying off. They followed, Naida a little behind, same as yesterday. She had a feeling she'd be doing this a lot—looking at their backs. For good reason they didn't particularly like her and the feeling was mutual. It was nothing personal; she didn't like people in general.

On the bus she found herself sitting next to Jackson rather than Grover. And this time she couldn't fall asleep to occupy herself. Her ADHD was kicking in, making her fidget, tapping her fingers on her knees, bit her bottom lip, adjust the way she sat every few minutes. Chase and Jackson were in a similar state. Also, it didn't help that they were in the back of the bus, which smelled disgusting because they were right next to the restroom. She hated public transportation.

"So, uh, where're you from?" Jackson asked and she was slightly less annoyed with him than usual. She understood that talking was about the only way to occupy themselves at the moment.

"Florida," she answered, running her fingers through her hair. The make-up she was wearing the night before had yet to run off her face, still clinging around her eyes. Good thing she didn't wear foundation, though, because she doubted that single scrub in the sink would've done the trick in getting it off. "How about you?"

"New York City." There was a pause where he was probably expecting her to say something and she was thinking of something to say. Then he continued, "Never thought I'd be the kid of a god. Didn't see it coming. Did you?"

"No, I was caught completely unaware. Like everything else in life."

"What do you mean?"

"So when did you find out you were Poseidon's bastard son?"

"The night I got to Camp." If he found her evading around the question strange, he didn't let on. "Any ideas to whose kid you are?"

"No," she lied. "And I don't really care about finding out or not."

"Why not?"

"If my dad doesn't have the decency to say, hey, she's my kid, then why bother caring about finding out on your own?"

"I guess you could look at it that way."

"Hey, Grover's the satyr that came to your school, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"When did he figure out you were a demigod?"

"I think he came to the school already knowing. When did the satyr that came to your school find out?"

"Night I left for Camp. You'd think all the signs would point to me, right? I have the usual ADHD and dyslexia, after all."

"Point taken…so why didn't he figure it out?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because I was in an honors class and most demigods aren't because of the dyslexia. And I have an A in said honors class."

"How'd you pull that?" he asked.

"I have a 504," she answered. "And I got help on my homework. How long is this bus ride anyway?"

"I think another half hour." Naida sighed.

"Great." There was a silence. She fidgeted. Across the aisle Chase and Grover were talking deforestation.

"So have you ever been to Jersey before?" asked Jackson.

"I was born there. Then went there every other summer to visit my grandparents."

"Oh. Why'd you move to Florida?"

"No idea, wasn't old enough to remember. How're we going to get a car?"

"I don't know. We should ask Annabeth."

"We could just highjack one."

"You sound like you've done it before."

"I haven't, but I know how to."

"Have you ever stolen something?"

"More than once."

"You've _got_ to be Hermes' daughter."

"Maybe, maybe not. But if you grew up where I grew up, you've been a little thief too. Almost everyone I knew stole something at least once."

"Oh."

"Any other speculations on whose daughter I might be?"

"Aphrodite maybe."

"I may be pretty, but I'm not gorgeous. Next guess."

"You sound like you know who it is already. I don't know, Eris?"

"Goddess of Chaos? Now that would just be awesome. My mortal parent's a girl, though and I look just like her, so I doubt my god parent's a woman."

"Then I still say Hermes."

"I guess we'll find out one day. Or maybe not at all."

"Probably we will."

"You're such an optimist."

"Better that than a pessimist."

"It's called being a realist. Most people—gods included, I think—just don't give a damn about others. Humans are selfish creatures and gods are more humans than humans are. All any of us care about is ourselves."

_Do you really believe that_? said the voice in her head, causing her to jump. Jackson looked at her quizzically. _I'm insulted. _

_ Which god are you_? she asked. All she received in return was a laugh and then he was gone.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The bus slowed to a stop and opened its doors. The next one was theirs. Thank the Gods.

_Get off now_, said her father in her head as Jackson next to her said, "Oh, crap."

"What?"

"We have to get off," said Chase. "Right now."

Naida looked up to see three old ladies. For a moment she was confused as to why her traveling partners were freaking out so badly, but then a chill ran up her spine. Yeah, they had to get out. Unfortunately the women were heading straight towards them and showed no signs of stopping despite the lack of seats in the back.

"What do we do?" said Grover.

"I have an idea," said Chase and before anyone could object she pulled a baseball cap out from her pack and put it on her head. Then she was gone, completely invisible. Next minute one of the women exploded into dust. All the passengers screamed. The bus lurched to a stop again. Jackson pulled out a pen, uncapped it, and it became a sword.

Screw everything.

Quickly, she and Grover got up. While the satyr had no weapons, she did, and she pulled out her dagger. Though she'd never used one before, she had a general gist of how to. She would have packed a sword, which was easier, but there was no way to hide it. Now only if this was a butterfly knife. She'd used that before. Hopefully a dagger was similar.

They went down relatively easily, mostly because it only took one or two swipes to kill them. But by this point everyone was on the bus was screaming and fuck, this was going to end badly. Chase (invisible, of course) grabbed her wrist and yanked her hard towards the front of the bus as Jackson slammed down on the button that opened the door. They were outside in a second, Chase (still invisible) letting go of her hand, and they sprinted across the highway, ignoring the yells that came from the bus. Woods were there, glorious, glorious woods. Cars screeched to abrupt halts to avoid them and it was miracle they made it to the other side alive. By now every adult on that bus had probably whipped out their cell phones and called the police. It didn't help that cops swarmed this highway from what her grandma had told her.

After they reached the mass of trees, they took a break, bending over and trying to catch their breath. Damn, it didn't matter how often you went running around as a kid—sprinting that long of a distance always made it hard to breath. She shut her eyes, trying to visualize where they were from what she remembered. _Come on, idiot, you were only here a year ago_…

"We're on route 23, right?" she said, panting. They walked now, going through the trees but keeping in line with the road.

"No idea—"

"Yes," said Chase (no longer invisible), cutting Grover off. "Why? Do you know the area?"

She nodded. "We should head straight; the direction the bus was leading us. I don't know where Aunty Em's Garden Emporium is, but—" She coughed. "But it should be around here somewhere, which means it's by Kinnelon, possibly Butler. That's what it looked like on the map anyway."

"I knew you visited here," said Jackson, staring at her, "but how do you know this area so well?"

"My grandparents live about twenty minutes away from where we're standing right now."

"And you know this exact place _how_?" said Grover.

"I've driven in New Jersey before," she answered, "and there's a movie theatre in Kinnelon." She paused. "You know, there's a town called Sparta around here somewhere."

"Oh."

"Let's hurry," said Chase.

The others talked, but she stayed quiet for the most part. Sirens wailed by early on in the walk and she had a feeling cops were patrolling the woods. If they were caught, everything would ruined. An apocalyptic war between the gods would start apparently, if they didn't make it there fast enough. And, well, she liked living and the apocalypse probably wouldn't find keeping her alive a priority. But, luckily, no police found them. Instead, they found what they were looking for.

"Aunty Em's Garden Emporium," read Grover. Jackson and Chase exchanged a look, then they pushed the doors open.

No one was inside. It smelled of decay and looking like it was decaying; made sense, after all. Besides the traffic in the very, very distance, there were no sounds. Not even a bird chirped, which was strange, considering it was the middle of the woods. It was suspicious, really, that this little shop just sat here, all alone, in the middle of nowhere. She'd been expecting it to be along the road like most places, not all the way back like this. Creepy. No wonder it had no business.

"Hey, look, we can get a free soda!" said Grover, though she highly doubted there was anything in that case. And when he opened it, she was proven wrong—there were rats.

She screamed immediately and hit behind Jackson as the satyr slammed it shut. Regaining her composure almost immediately, she stepped away, keeping her face neutral.

"You don't like rats?" asked Chase with a slight smile.

"They scurry and naw and bit the ropes in the Pit in the Pendulum while nibbling the guy's lips and ears and whatnot," she answered and shivered. "It weirds me out."

"Okay, then let's get out of here," said Jackson and he led them outside. Everywhere were stone statues. She blinked, surprised.

"They all look so realistic," she said quietly to herself, peering at one of a woman in a jacket and sweatpants. Really, though, they were completely amazing—she'd never seen sculptures this intricate before. The facial expression was a little strange, though.

"We should split up and look for the pearl," said Chase. Naida nodded and wondered off, happy to finally get a respite from the three of them. Now, if only she could have a shower.

Suddenly, she bumped into something, causing her to jump. Then she paused and took a closer look at it. Another terrified face. Then she looked around. All of them had the same look. This was creepy. She shivered, suddenly afraid, and took off walking again. All around her, horrified, stone eyes peered. She could practically hear them begging her to let them free. Stupid overactive imagination.

"PERCY!" Grover yelled as he ran past her. She sprinted to catch up, grabbing him by his arm. "ANNABETH! PERCY!"

"What's wrong?" she asked once she got him to slow. His face was as afraid as the ones on the statues. "What's going on?"

"I know where we are," he said.

"Where?"

"This is Medusa's lair."


	4. Author's Note

Sorry to the few who've reviewed this.

I am sorry to say that I am going to delete chapters one and two.

Then I'll edit the prologue.

When that's done, I'm going to start all over again.

So please keep this on alert because I don't know when it's going to happen.

Title will change too.


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